The first hole at Century Pines Golf Club owns me. Period. In half a dozen visits over the past three years, I have blown up massively on that hole every time! I've described it before, but here I go again, in an effort to explain how I managed to score a 10 on this straightaway and flat par-5. While the hole is straight, the entire left side (tee to green) is covered in thick trees and out of bounds just a few yards into the tree line. The right side has a few small trees, with another fairway on the other side. Closer to the green, a medium size pond borders the fairway on the right side. A large tree pinches in on the left side about 80 yards in front of the teeing ground, while another pinches the right side in front of the green. The hole plays left to right as viewed in the satellite image below.
I began by pulling my tee shot, clipping the large tree that pinches the left side. The ball dropped straight down, but fortunately stayed out of the creek that you see in the image. The unfortunate part was that I had no backswing, so all I managed to do was punch to the middle of the fairway, still a long way from the green. Next, I pulled a low 3-iron that skidded along the fairway before finding the trees on the left. Lost ball, penalty stroke, and I had to replay from the same position as my last shot. Then I stabbed at the ground, barely advancing the ball to the right rough near the pond. From 160 yards, I pulled my approach, catching the cart path and bouncing over the fence. Out of bounds, penalty stroke, and replay the shot. This one went straight, but was off the toe and finished 40 yards short. I pitched to the back of the green, then nailed a long putt. And there you go.
Holes #2 through #17 were perfectly fine. I collected two pars, nine bogeys, and five doubles. I'm not greedy – if I could maintain that pace over 18 holes, I would score about 92. That would be fine with me – for a while. Then, of course, I would want to break 90. LOL. The point is, it wasn't great golf, but it was respectable. I placed my drives somewhere in play, and on a few occasions, even hit very nice ones. Some of these were with long irons, which showed disciplined game management. Approach shots had crisp contact, even if they missed slightly. Pitches and chips were also good. The only thing that wasn't great was putting, as I missed a couple of short gimmies. I guess they weren't gimmies after all.
Now, hole #18 – and this is where the golf gods really show their versatility. I overcame a terrible start to put together a decent round. Even with a double-bogey on the last hole, I would score in the high nineties – quite a feat with a 10 on your scorecard! The hole is a straight par-5, measuring 505 yards from the blue tees. In the image below, it plays left to right. Players must carry a pond with their tee shot to find the fairway. A layup leaving 100-130 yards avoids the creek that winds in front of the green. From there, a simple wedge leads to a green sloped back to front. Easy breezy. How then, did I manage to score 9?
My drive drifted right into the C-shaped bunker. This is a shallow bunker and very flat. I tried to hit a gap wedge to the layup area, but caught it fat, failing to emerge from the bunker. My second attempt was again fat, but did get out, leaving 180 yards to the green. Next, I duffed a 5-iron, sending the ball squirting to the right rough. It was lush, and really grabbed hold of the subsequent 8-iron. I crossed the creek, but was still short of the green. A pitch from 50 yards went to the very back of the green, while the pin was at the front. From legitimate 3-putt territory, I did just that. My lag was pretty good and the second putt makeable, but that would mean a final score of 99 – and the golf gods just won't have that. They delivered a burned edge and a tidy score of 100 even. Versatile, indeed!
Score: 100
Putts: 40
Fairways: 5
Greens: 3
Penalties: 4
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